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If you google the firmware file name (leave off the extension, zip or bin, for more results), you'll see other places that may have it online. If the full file name doesn't work, search on sections of it. For instance, to find General_NVR3xxx_Eng_P_V2.616.0000.0.R.20140110, I'd search on NVR3xxx 20140110, and then try other parts of the file name if that didn't work. As always, be careful with Dahua firmware updates.

The HFW3300C/3200C and HFW2100S don't have independent control of the IR. The IR LEDs are turned on and off by the photosensor on the board, not by the software. You can test this by blocking and unblocking the sensor as soon as the power is applied, before the camera has booted. The only way to turn off the IR completely is to unplug the IR board, which doesn't affect camera operation. If you leave it in color mode, it doesn't matter much, though there is a little IR bleed through the filter. Do the telnet commands change the filter position instead of turning the IR on and off?

I have a couple of Hik 2032 bullets set up in a panoramic view. There's a post on them here with example shots: http://www.cam-it.org/index.php?topic=4828.0 These are set up in line, with no separation - one right above the other. This gives the best horizontal coverage while avoiding coverage gap in the middle, which isn't likely to be a problem with a 3 camera setup, or if you don't care about the far edges. If they were spaced apart, I'd have to trade off covering the right and left edges against the middle. Because of the 4mm field of view, I only get about 150 degrees total with little overlap in the middle, and am thinking about adding another and going to a narrower lens to get both 180 degrees and some overlap, with the added bonus of more pixels per foot. The Hik has a narrower FOV at 3MP than at 1080p, which is unusual, so you'll need to take that into account, but your testing will show you which works best. Here are the measured FOVs for the Hik 2032 with the factory 4mm lens: 3MP = 69 degrees H 1080P = 77 degrees H

To get rid of motion blur for people walking by, you'll want 1/30 second as the longest exposure. Cars and runners will still blur at that setting. 1/60 second is better, but many cams are getting pretty dark at that point. You've got a fair bit of light, but you'll have to try different settings to see if it's enough.

Thanks for the feedback! I've been meaning to upgrade to the NTSC version, but haven't had the time. Too bad Dahua rarely posts what's in the updates.

ONVIF isn't a very reliable standard. It's getting better, but is still unpredictable. You might want to try connecting with the camera's streaming parameters instead of ONVIF.

I've found BI supports newer DVRs better than older ones. You might shoot an email to the BI developer and see if he supports that particular model.

Dedicated NVRs generally won't support more cameras than the model supports when you buy it. That is, an 8 channel NVR will only support 8 cams, no matter how many you have connected to your network. This is a firmware limitation, though bandwidth limitations are sometimes built in as well. In theory, you only need a single network connection for all the cams it supports. A PC based system will only have a single connection, regardless of how many cams are connected to the POE switch. Dedicated NVRs may or may not require each cam to be plugged into their dedicated ports.

Blue Iris would support 8 or more 3MP cams on a $600-700 pc, depending on the frame rate. It's very powerful and flexible, but uses a good bit of CPU at high frame rates with MP cams. There's a demo version you can test to see if it fits your needs.

Don't know about this specific camera, but Alarm Out and Alarm Out Ground would be the signal that triggers something external when the camera has an alarm. Whether it has the power to drive your alarm, or would need to go to a driver, will depend on the specs for the output. That should be documented in the manual, I'd hope.

The POE spec allows for using alternate voltage sources for make-up power. Whether a given vendor has implemented this part of the spec correctly or tested it is another question entirely. I've run a Dahua 3300C on both POE and 12Vdc for a while with no problems. I've also got a Vivotek FD8134 that the POE has died on, currently running on 12Vdc while connected to a POE port.

These should work. I haven't tested either of these, and Dahua firmware updates can be iffy, so use at your own risk! I zipped them so you can see if there's any corruption after a download. NTSC version: General_IPC-HX3(2)XXX_Eng_N_V2.212.0000.0.R.20131206.zip https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5RXJz1sMJ9VajVXQkR4SFNHS3c/edit?usp=sharing PAL version: General_IPC-HX3(2)XXX_Eng_P_V2.212.0000.0.R.20131206.zip https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5RXJz1sMJ9VWVlKREZmMkFmcW8/edit?usp=sharing

The two sites are often out of sync on when they add the latest version. Sometimes US is first, sometimes Europe. I'd guess they're run by different people with different priorities. I haven't heard any compelling differences in 5.1.2 yet, though I'll be testing for the improved night image as soon as I have the time. The people who have upgraded haven't reported any obvious improvements.

Generally, you can run 1080p cams at 4Mbps and 720p cams at 2Mbps with no problem. Depending on the view, motion, and frame rate, you might be able to drop it even more with good results. If these adapters will handle at least 20Mbps, you should be good with 4 cams.

The more I work with M12 lenses, the more I miss CS mounts! Expensive, yes, but so much better performance.

BI requires a fairly powerful CPU, depending on the total MP and frame rates. An i7-4770 type system should handle a mix of 10 cams at 720p and 1080p, if you keep the frame rate at 10-15 fps. Let's say you have 5 of each; that's 15MP. I'm running 8 cams at 13MP total, 10 fps, on an i5-3570k (3rd gen) box, and it could handle another few MP, but not much more. The 4th gen i5/i7 handle a good bit more. You might want to ask over at the BI community support forum - www.cam-it.org. Lots of people there are running 4th gen i7 boxes and can give you numbers on it.

You should be able to flash to the older firmware if you have a copy of it.

12Vdc can be tricky if you're still connected to POE, depending on how the firmware handles it. The POE spec allows for using external power as a make-up power source, but I'm not sure if it requires it. That is, if you plug in POE and 12Vdc at the same time, it can be hard to say which it uses (or if it uses some portion of both) unless you measure the power draws on both. When I run 12Vdc for testing, I like to use a non-POE port to make sure it's only using the 12V.

Blue Iris lets you set the recording size to whatever you want, from individual motion detect clips to 8 hours or more, and it's pretty easy to scroll along the timeline to find what you need on a single cam. I've never used larger than 8 hours, but I believe you can set it larger if desired. It supports many brands and models of cams, and requires a pretty powerful PC if you run a lot of MP at high frame rates, but can handle a couple of cams on most modern PCs. You can download a demo version to try it out. Others can say whether their favorite software will do this as well.

Many IP cams let you set the bit rate, which will determine how much data they stream if you use a constant bit rate. With CBR, resolution and frame rate don't matter in terms of data, only in terms of image quality. If you use variable bit rate, it'll depend on how the cam's firmware implements that, and you'll have to test it to know for sure. This will change depending on visual complexity, amount of motion, and day vs night.

Lots of IP cams have strong IR capability, with one of the big issues being hotspots due to a mismatch between IR spread and FOV, much like your image. They may have been referring to low-light capability in general. Lower res sensors have more area per pixel element and tend to be better at low light, compared to MP cams. A 1.3MP 1/3" sensor pixel will have about 1/4 the area of a VGA or D1 1/3" sensor pixel, and the more MP you have, the worse the problem gets.

Power drop can be an issue across longer cables, though the length of yours shouldn't be causing problems unless your cams draw a lot of power or the cable/connector resistance is high. Cat 6 has slightly larger gauge wires than Cat 5, so that may make a difference. You may want to verify cable quality, as MindTwist suggests, to make sure you don't have copper clad aluminum (for instance). Also, whenever I suspect cable problems, I remake both ends to make sure the crimp is good.

I prefer color mode at night when there's enough light, as there's improved contrast due to more colors. One of my Dahuas stays in color mode for the same reason you mention, and it works well for me.

Support is a problem for lots of these cams, as drocer says. Best bet is to buy from a vendor who provides good support on their own, or from an authorized dealer. Many people like the Aliexpress path because the cost is a good bit lower, though support can be spotty to nonexistent, and it can cost a lot to return a camera. If you're buying, say, 10 cams, the savings are big enough to buy 11 and use the trash can warranty if one's bad, but that's a decision everyone has to make for themselves. As for Hik vs Dahua, I also prefer Hik. I'm testing the Dahua 4300S right now, and the real resolution is slightly better than the Hik, but the image colors are very subdued, and it has the Dahua exposure sensitivity problems that the older models had, as well as worse WDR than the Hik. Dahua has terrible support for things like firmware, while Hik firmware is readily available on the web. Again, if you buy from someone who provides good support, this isn't such an issue.

This one could be worthwhile if it's a real improvement.